Handgun-discharge suppressor for shot-containment system

ABSTRACT

A handgun-shot suppressor has a housing with an outer shell with a rear end adapted to fit with a shot-containment device and an opposite front end. A mass of sound-deadening material within the housing forms a passage and is formed at the front end with a front cavity fittable with a muzzle of a handgun so that a shot fired by a handgun fitted to the front cavity passes through the passage. A gas-permeable cover lining the passage and the cavity lies against the mass of sound-deadening material. A rear wall penetrable by the projectile closes the rear end of the housing.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a suppressor for controlling thedischarge of a handgun into a shot-containment system.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Shot-containment devices are used by police and the military, amongothers, in order to serve as reliable bullet traps during loading andunloading of firearms when there is an unintentional discharge. Suchshot-containment devices are known from U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,526,861 and6,016,735.

During discharge into a shot-containment device, there is a considerablemuzzle blast of up to 170 dB, significantly above the hearing damagethreshold of around 130 dB. This can result in hearing damage.

For smaller firearms such as pistols it is known to provide in front ofa shot-containment system a sound-absorbing chamber whose front isclosed by a curtain-like array of slats. With this, the firearm has tobe operated blind, which is not practicable.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide animproved handgun-discharge containment system.

Another object is the provision of such an improved handgun-dischargecontainment system that overcomes the above-given disadvantages, inparticular where emissions in the form of the blast sound and theevolving gases are significantly reduced, and where use should be simpleand reliable.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A handgun-shot suppressor according to the invention has a housing withan outer shell with a rear end adapted to fit with a shot-containmentdevice and an opposite front end. A mass of sound-deadening materialwithin the housing forms a passage and is formed at the front end with afront cavity fittable with a muzzle of a handgun so that a shot fired bya handgun fitted to the front cavity passes through the passage. Agas-permeable cover lining the passage and the cavity lies against themass of sound-deadening material. A rear wall penetrable by theprojectile closes the rear end of the housing.

Such a device achieves a sound reduction of 18 to 42 dB andsimultaneously effectively slows and cools the gas generated by theshot, so that no gas or only a minimal amount of gas emerges at thefront of the suppressor. Irreversible hearing damage is reliablyprevented and hearing protection no longer has to be worn.

In addition, such a device may be used with all types ofshot-containment devices, regardless of the model or caliber or handlingof the firearm. It is also important that, with such a device, the EUand OSHA Guidelines for reducing nose at the source are followed.

Especially simple handing is provided when the inlet opening tapers ordecreases in diameter from outside to inside (front to back), and inparticular when it is frustoconical so that the firearm need only beheld in contact with the device according to the invention.

Since the passage is lined by a support cover lying lies against thesound-deadening mass, the placement or insertion of the firearm muzzledoes not damage the sound-deadening mass. Here the support cover is inparticular tubular, preferably a net, mesh, woven fabric, or knittedfabric.

Since the support cover covers the sound-deadening mass at least in theregion of the inlet opening, the material is held reliably. Furthermore,the support cover can enclose the sound-deadening mass on the outside.

An especially simple design and production and easy handling areachieved when the outer shell is cylindrical, at least on the outside.Hereby the connecting region of the outer shell can also be cylindricalfor attachment to the shot-containment device for a cylindrical seat onthe shot-containment device.

It is preferably recommended that the rear end facing away from thefirearm has an end wall in which the passage terminates. The end facingaway from the firearm is thus closed and can be penetrated by theprojectile, so that the projectile reaches the shot-containment device.

It is preferably recommended that the sound-deadening mass is a stripwound around the passage. In this way, the production of thesound-deadening region is especially simple and installation is easier.

Placement of the firearm on the device is easier if a guide is providedin front of the inlet opening for the muzzle of the firearm.

It is preferably recommended that the passage has a constrictionreducing the passage cross section. In this way gas flow is also slowed,plus the constriction can ensure that the firearm is not inserted toofar into the passage of the device according to the invention.Preferably, here the constriction is arranged in the center or rearregion of the passage.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

The above and other objects, features, and advantages will become morereadily apparent from the following description, reference being made tothe accompanying drawing whose sole FIGURE is an axial section throughthe discharge suppressor of this invention.

SPECIFIC DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

As seen the drawing, a discharge suppressor 1 is typically mounted infront of a standard shot-containment device or system here indicatedschematically at 11. The suppressor 1 has a cup-shaped or pot-shapedhousing 2 with a cylindrical outer wall made of sheet-metal or plastictubing and having a closed rear wall 9 and an open opposite front endforming a cavity 7 for receiving the muzzle end of a firearm, typicallya handgun. The outer shell or wall 2 can also have a non-cylindricalshape, in particular a polygon. The front edge of the outer shell 2 ispreferably covered by an annular or circumferential edge-protecting trim10 that may form a muzzle guide.

Inside the outer shell 2 is a mass 4 of sound-deadening material thatboth absorbs and deadens sound, and preferably is made of plastic foam.This sound-deadening mass 4 forms a central passage 3 that is coaxial toa center axis A of the outer shell 2. This passage 3 can be designed tobe very narrow, i.e. it may have a diameter smaller than the caliber ofa round, so that the round has to squeeze through the passage.Alternatively, the passage 3 can be off-center and/or angled relative tothe outer shell 2.

The sound-deadening mass 4 is especially simple to produce when it isformed from a strip and is wound around the passage 3. In this wayprecompression of the core material is simply controlled by the striplength.

The passage 3 is lined by a supporting, in particular perforated cover 8lying lies against the sound-deadening mass 4, so that the support cover8 forms a tube in turn forming the passage 3. Preferably the cover 8here is a net, mesh, woven material, or knitted material made of plasticfilaments or wires. The cover 8 supporting the sound-deadening mass 4preferably also wraps around the outer cylindrical surface of thesound-deadening mass 4 and further, also lines the front and rear endsof the sound-deadening mass 4, so that the sound-deadening mass 4 bothis wholly externally and internally lined by the cover 8.

At the front end of the device, the cavity 7 forms an upstream inlet end5 of the passage 3. Here the sound-deadening mass 4 in the cavity 7forms a frustoconical surface and thus a funnel to the inlet end 5, sothat the muzzle of a firearm can be placed on or attached simply in apositive and/or frictionally tight manner to the suppressor 1. Such afrustoconical inlet cavity 7 makes handling much easier. Here thesuppressor 1 can be used in a manner such that the muzzle of the firearmis actually inserted partially into the passage 3. For muzzle diameterslarger than the maximal funnel diameter, the muzzle can be fitted flatlyagainst the deadening core mass 5 axially aligned with the passage 3 orthe funnel surface 7. In this case the entire funnel region or volumesserve as a gas and projectile guide.

The support cover 8 also covers the frustoconical cavity 7 so that thesound-deadening mass is protected from damage. In addition, anunillustrated guide can be provided in front of the inlet opening 5 ofthe passage 3 so as to facilitate insertion of the muzzle of the firearmor, for a noncoaxial or rotation symmetrical position of the passage 3and the funnel connecting to the longitudinal axis of the housing 1, todefine the off-center firearm muzzle position for the intended use.

The outer shell 2 in the rear end forms a connecting region 6 of thesuppressor 1 that can fit a complementary cylindrical seat of theshot-containment device 11. In this case the insertion opening of theshot-containment device 11 has the same or slightly larger diameter asthe outside diameter of the outer shell 2 in the connecting region 6. Inthis way there is a positive releasable connection between thesuppressor 1 according to the invention and the shot-containment device11. In the case when the outer shell is not cylindrical but oval orpolygonal in cross section, the seat of the shot-containment device 11has a complementary cross section.

The passage 3 has a constriction 13 that reduces its cross-sectionalarea and that is in the center or rear of the passage in order to resistgas flow and/or to keep the firearm from being inserted too far into thesuppressor 1 according to the invention.

The cover 8 can also be formed by a screen-like material. In addition,the outer shell 2 can have two or more lateral openings 12 for releasinggas. Also, the rear end wall 9 can be made of a material, in particulara plastic or rubber material that can be penetrated by the projectile ofthe firearm, so as to show that the suppressor 1 according to theinvention was penetrated at least once by a projectile. Thus, the rearwall 9 shows whether the suppressor 1 is still intact.

The sound-deadening mass 4 is preferably a plastic form made ofopen-cell polyurethane foam on a polyether base with a crude specificgravity (before fitting) according to ISO 845 of around 21.5 kg/m³.

Alternatively, of course other materials with comparable absorption ordeadening properties may also be used.

I claim:
 1. A handgun-shot suppressor comprising: a housing having anouter shell extending along an axis and with a rear end adapted to fitwith a shot-containment device and an opposite front end; a mass ofsound-deadening material within the housing, forming a passage, andformed at the front end with a front cavity fittable with a muzzle of ahandgun, whereby a shot fired by a handgun fitted to the front cavitypasses through the passage; a gas-permeable cover lining the passage andthe cavity and lying against the mass of sound-deadening material; and arear wall penetrable by the projectile and closing the rear end of thehousing.
 2. The handgun-shot suppressor defined in claim 1, wherein thecavity is frustoconical and tapers away from the front end into thepassage.
 3. The handgun-shot suppressor defined in claim 1 wherein thecover is a net, mesh, woven fabric, or knitted fabric.
 4. Thehandgun-shot suppressor defined in claim 1, wherein the cover is flameretardant and self-extinguishing.
 5. The handgun-shot suppressor definedin claim 1, wherein the cover externally fully surrounds the mass. 6.The handgun-shot suppressor defined in claim 1, wherein the outer shellof the housing is externally cylindrical.
 7. The handgun-shot suppressordefined in claim 6, wherein the rear end of the housing fittable in theshot-containment device is also cylindrical.
 8. The handgun-shotsuppressor defined in claim 1, wherein the passage has a closed rear endwall transverse to the axis.
 9. The handgun-shot suppressor defined inclaim 8, wherein the rear wall is made of plastic or rubber.
 10. Thehandgun-shot suppressor defined in claim 1, wherein the sound-deadeningmass is formed by a strip of sound-deadening material wound around thepassage.
 11. The handgun-shot suppressor defined in claim 1, furthercomprising: a guide for a muzzle of the firearm at the front end. 12.The handgun-shot suppressor defined in claim 1, wherein the passage isformed with a constriction reducing a cross-sectional area of thepassage.
 13. The handgun-shot suppressor defined in claim 12 wherein theconstriction is at or rearward toward the rear end of a center of thepassage.